Closing out the regular season at home has its advantages, and the Fenwick boys basketball team benefited from its home court and comfortable surroundings Friday night against Gordon Tech.
The Friars improved their record to 12-10 overall and 5-5 in the Chicago Catholic League by upending the Rams 67-59. One player who seemed most relaxed back at the Field House in Oak Park was Peter Haefner, who led the Friars with 15 points, all of which came on five three-pointers. Tyler Sewell added 14 points, including hitting three shots from behind the arc.
“It’s nice to see the well-balanced scoring from this team again,” said Fenwick head coach John Quinn. “We’ve been struggling to close out games in the last few weeks but when we get this kind of point production out of a few players, then we’re good to go.”
Sam Ainsworth added nine points while Dylan Barnett chipped in five for the Friars, who led by as much as 20 going into the fourth.
Fenwick was set to take on Northside Prep last night (after deadline) at home and will close out its regular season against Brother Rice in Oak Park on Friday night (7:30 p.m.). The team will honor its seniors on Friday night.
“We need to close out the regular season on a positive note, and I think these guys are ready to do that. As long as we can get the same balanced scoring and point production from multiple players, we should be fine and ready to go for the playoffs,” said Quinn, whose Friars are 9-0 this season when they’ve scored 59 or more points.
Also last week, Fenwick trounced Richards Academy 77-56. Ainsworth led the Friars in the onslaught with 15 points and eight rebounds. Barnett finished with 10 points, four rebounds, three steals and four assists.
Fenwick, the 11th seed in the York Sectional, begins the playoffs against the host of the Villa Park Regional, Willowbrook, on Monday (8:10 p.m.). A win would put them up against sixth seed Morton on March 2 (8:10 p.m.).
